James H. Wilbur papers

The James H. Wilbur papers consist of his travel journal, correspondence, and legal and financial papers dating from 1850 to 1887. The bulk of the material is from the 1880s and pertains to his career as Indian Agent for the Yakama Reservation at Fort Simcoe in the Washington Territory. The collection includes: correspondence relating to the day-to-day business of running the agency; accounting ledgers, vouchers, reports, and correspondence relating to the government grants that funded the agency; correspondence and testimony relating to the Agency; court papers relating to land disputes; deeds and other papers pertaining to real estate ventures; and personal papers regarding Wilbur’s involvement in the administration of the estates of Calvin Reed and Susan Waters.

Material of note includes: correspondence with Father Louis Napoleon St. Onge in the late 1860s; Wilbur's temporary displacement as agent by Lieutenant James Smith in 1869-1870; the arrival and maintenance of the Paiutes, and the agency inspection of William Pollock.

This file contains statements and depositions taken at hearings regarding Wilbur’s temporary displacement as agent by Lieutenant James Smith in 1869-1870 and the agency inspection of William Pollock, among other issues.

Contains accounting paperwork generated in the course of Wilbur's duties as Indian agent, including ledger pages.

Contains accounting paperwork generated in the course of Wilbur's duties as Indian agent, including receipts and vouchers for purchases and payments.

Contains paperwork generated in the course of Wilbur's duties as Indian agent, including official communications between the Agent and the Department of the Treasury regarding the disposal of government bonds.

Contains official and unofficial documents pertaining to Wilbur’s personal real estate holdings and those he oversaw on behalf of the Office of Indian Affairs and the Methodist Episcopal Conference.

Includes legal papers and correspondence relating to court disputes over real estate properties.

Contains receipts, vouchers, and correspondence pertaining to Wilbur’s administration of the estate of Calvin C. Reed.

Contains receipts, vouchers, and correspondence pertaining to Wilbur’s administration of the estate of Susan M. Waters. Included is the will of Susan Waters, written in letter format some six months before her death in 1869.

Wilbur's journal, written from September 27, 1846 to January 25, 1848, tells of his family's journey from New York around Cape Horn to the Oregon Institute and the onset of his Methodist mission work in Oregon Territory.

Certificates appointing Wilbur as Indian Agent at Yakama Agency in the Washington Territory. The certificates are signed by Presidents Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, and James Garfield. There are five certificates.